PopCap endures significant layoffs

Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies creator PopCap has been significantly cut down a year after its acquisition by Electronic Arts. Industry sources previously indicated the casual gaming giant may be up for reduction. The rumors were corroborated today by Jeff Green, PopCap's director of editorial and social media, on his Twitter account.

After joking that he picked a good week to start sniffing glue, Green said, "In semi-related news, I still have a job." His comments came minutes after 3D Realms co-creator George Broussard tweeted that PopCap's studios in Dublin and Shanghai were cut down, and around 50 employees were laid off from its main Seattle office.

EA purchased PopCap in July 2011 for a total figure somewhere between $750 million and $1.3 billion. The company announced earlier this week that its tower-defense sequel Plants vs. Zombies 2 will arrive in late spring of 2013.

[UPDATE] PopCap co-founder John Vechey confirmed the studio has cut its North American presence by about 50 people, and is investigating whether it needs to shutter its Dublin operation. He said Electronic Arts did not push for the reorganization, and "if we didn’t have EA behind us, the cuts would have been worse."